Curriculum: Voice Undergraduates

Life isn’t an audition.

Any music school can make you a better player. Our interconnected courses are built to transform you intellectually, artistically, professionally, and individually. You’ll understand the roots of your music, freeing you to take it somewhere new. You’ll see how your training broadens your options, rather than narrowing them. You'll find your voice. And you'll enter the world with the same confidence you bring to the stage.

Required Courses

Curriculum: Bachelor of Music in Voice
Credit Total: 136.5

Rec.

Course #/Title

Cr.

Private Instruction

1st/2nd/3rd/4th yr.

PVL 100 Major Instruction

32

Private Instruction

1st/2nd/3rd/4th yr.

PRF 462

4

Musicianship and Music Theory

1st yr.

MMT 102/112 Musicianship

4

1st yr.

MMT 103/113 Musicianship

4

2nd yr.

MMT 104/114 Musicianship

4

2nd yr.

MMT 105/115 Musicianship

4

3rd yr.

MMT 106 Musicianship

2

3rd yr.

MMT 107 Musicianship

2

Keyboard Skills

1st yr.

PRF 150/151 Keyboard Skills

2

Humanities and Sciences

1st yr.

HMS 110/111 Approaches to College Writing

6

2nd yr.

HMS 202/203 Intro to Western Civilization

6

3rd yr.

HMS 302-399 (Literature)

3

4th yr.

HMS 402-479 (Hist/Phil)

3

1st/2nd/3rd yr.

HMS 220-245 (Language: one year each of French, Italian, and German)

18

Music History and Literature

2nd yr.

MHL 202/203

4

3rd yr.

MHL 204

2

3rd yr.

MHL 302/303 Vocal Lit.

2

3rd yr.

MHL 400-599 or MMT 252 or 253

3

4th yr.

Other MHL/MMT Courses (except MHL 202-399 and MMT 100-115)

3

Applied Practical Training / Professional Development

1st yr.

PDV 200 Professional Fundamentals; PDV 202 Finance for Musicians

2

1st yr.

APP 204/205 Fundamentals for the Singing Actor

2

1st yr.

APP 210 Basic Phonetics

1

2nd yr.

Diction: APP 211 or 212 or 213

1

4th yr.

APP 202 Vocal Physiology

2

4th yr.

APP 203 Vocal Pedagogy

2

4th yr.

PDV 203-599

2

Ensembles

2nd yr.

ENS 200-599:

2

4th yr.

ENS 300 Chorus or ENS 301 Chamber Choir

2

Winter Term

1st yr.

Project

2nd yr.

Project

3rd yr.

Project

Electives (9 credits total)
Courses numbered HMS 202-590, MMT 202-799, and courses in the APP, ENS, IND, MHL and PDV series that aren’t used to fulfill core curriculum or major field requirements may be used to fulfill the requirements for the elective credits listed for individual majors.

Juries and Recitals

1st yr.

JRFR Freshman Jury

2nd yr.

JRSO Sophomore Jury

3rd yr.

JRJU Junior Jury

3rd yr.

RCTJU Junior Recital

4th yr.

JRSN Senior Jury

4th yr.

RCTSN Senior Recital

Repertoire Requirements for Voice Majors

Evaluation and Jury Examinations

A jury examination is required of all voice students during the second semester of each year. At the end of the semester in which students are not doing a jury (usually the fall semester), voice students perform a piece chosen by the voice faculty for evaluation. The piece is chosen from the repertoire specified in the Voice Department Handbook. Students will receive written comments on both evaluation and jury performances.

Freshman Requirements

Repertoire requirements for the first semester: Evaluation

One early Italian song or aria, written in the 17th or 18th century

One song originally in English (no translations)

Two pieces of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

Repertoire requirements for the second semester: Jury

One early Italian song or aria, written in the 17th or 18th century

Two songs or arias originally in English. Translations from other languages are not acceptable. (The word "aria" in this context bears in mind particularly the works of Handel, though not exclusively.)

Two pieces of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

The freshman jury will consist of a performance of two pieces from the required second-semester freshman repertoire: one piece chosen by the student, the second by faculty jury members.

Sophomore Requirements

Repertoire requirements for the first semester: Evaluation

Two compositions from the works of such composers as Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, or Mozart, but not by the same composer. One composition may be a song; the other must be an aria from an oratorio or an opera.

One song by any of the composers represented in The Reliquary of English Song, e.g., Arne, Dowland, Morley, Purcell

One song by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, or Schumann

One piece of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

Repertoire requirements for the second semester: Jury

Two songs by Beethoven, Bellini, Donizetti, Hensel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rossini, Schubert or Schumann. The two songs may not be by the same composer.

One song by Purcell

One aria from an oratorio or an opera from the works of such composers as Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart or Vivaldi

One piece of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

The sophomore jury will consist of a performance of two pieces from the required second-semester sophomore repertoire: one piece chosen by the student, the second by faculty jury members.

Junior Requirements

Repertoire requirements for the first semester: Evaluation

One song by a composer of the earlier romantic period such as Brahms, Dvořák, Liszt, Mussorgsky, C. Schumann, Wolf

One song by a French romantic composer such as Berlioz, Bizet, Chabrier, Chausson, Duparc, Fauré, Massenet

One song originally in English (no translations) by an American or British composer of the 20th or 21st century

A song from the musical theater/jazz/American standard song repertoire, by a composer such as Berlin, Bernstein, Cahn, Gershwin, Mercer, Porter, Rodgers, Sondheim

Two pieces of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

Repertoire requirements for the second semester: Jury

One song by a composer of the later romantic period such as Berg, Mahler, Strauss, Wolf, early Stravinsky, early Schönberg

One song by a French composer such as Debussy, Hahn, Satie, Poulenc, Ravel, Milhaud, Messiaen, Roussel

One composition from the works of J.S. Bach in the original language of composition

One aria from an oratorio or opera from the works of 19th, 20th, or 21st century composers

One song in English by an American composer such as Argento, Bacon, Barber, Carpenter, Copland, Duke, Heggie, Musto, Ives, Pasatieri, Persichetti, Rorem

One piece of the student's choice (to be approved by the major teacher)

The junior student in voice performs a public solo recital of 25–30 minutes of music prior to the second-semester junior jury. The recital may not include any material prepared in previous years and is to be chosen from required junior repertoire enumerated in the Voice Department Handbook. It should include various styles, e.g., romantic, impressionistic, contemporary, American, and at least three languages, one of which must be English by an American composer.

The junior jury will consist of a performance of two pieces from the required second-semester junior repertoire: one piece chosen by the student, the second by faculty jury members.

Senior Requirements

The senior student in voice performs a public solo recital of 50–60 minutes of music. The recital may not include any material prepared in previous years and should include pieces in Italian, German, French and English, from the baroque or classical, romantic, impressionistic, or neo-classical and contemporary (twentieth and twenty-first centuries) periods. Two of the contemporary compositions must be by American composers and be drawn from settings of English words. The remaining contemporary pieces may be drawn from the works of such composers as Berg, Britten, Schönberg, et al.

The program must be approved by the major voice teacher, and a portion of the recital may be presented to the voice faculty at least four weeks prior to the recital date during a recital preview. The voice faculty will either approve the memorized recital or ask for a second preview. If the second preview is not approved, the recital must be rescheduled for a later date.

Materials for the program must be turned in to the major teacher and voice faculty for their review. This must include the recital repertoire (including opus numbers and composers' dates), translations, program notes (limited to 150 words per piece on the program) and an optional biography of the singer (limited to 150 words or less).

The repertoire must be equally balanced among the Italian, German, French, and English languages. Other languages may be included only after the 50-minute minimum of the preceding four languages has been satisfied. The following periods and styles are to be represented:

Baroque and/or classical

Romantic

Impressionistic, neo-classical, post-romantic, etc. This category includes any works from or comparable to the works of the following suggested composers: Debussy, Ravel, Satie, Roussel, Milhaud, Poulenc, Messiaen, Stravinsky

20th or 21st century. Two of these compositions must be by American composers such as Argento, Barber, Copland, Ives, Pasatieri, Persichetti, Rorem

Operatic and oratorio arias may be programmed in fulfillment of any of the above requirements. They are not to make up a significantly large portion of the senior recital, however.

Song cycles: Although parts of cycles may have been performed in previous years, the major portion of the repertoire must be prepared during the senior year. Songs chosen for encores must be approved by the major teacher in advance of the recital date.

At the discretion of the major teacher, an optional piece/set from the musical theatre/jazz/American standard song repertoire by a composer such as Berlin, Bernstein, Cahn, Gershwin, Mercer, Porter, Rodgers, or Sondheim, may be included. This does not replace any required repertoire.

The recital preview will be the senior jury; an exit evaluation will be required at the end of the semester, consisting of one piece chosen by the student.

All recital and jury materials are to be prepared under the guidance and with the approval of the major voice teacher.